April 21, 2014

Hull Tigers: Part 1

The question of what the season would have been like with Aaron Ramsey fit for it's entirety came up multiple times before, during and after the Hull Tigers game Sunday. My first reaction was that one man doesn't make the team, and I still stand by that. However, it's hard not to feel like we may have missed an opportunity by not having Ramsey for that rather long period after Christmas. Without sounding too cliché, he really was pulling the strings against Hull on Easter Sunday, and did the same in the nearly two hours he played against Wigan too. A fully fit campaign next season could be his year to shine, and that makes the hairs on my arm stand up just thinking about it. Mr. Podolski had another cracker against Hull, and even put in a defensive shift or two, which is all bonus at this point. He didn't seem quite as pissed off when Wenger brought him off this time, even if he was on a hat trick. I'd call four goals in two games a pretty good return, and perhaps he's stepped it up a notch in training to convince the boss that he deserves a spot in the starting eleven? He's someone I love to watch, a player who makes you shift forward on you seat whenever he gets the ball outside the box. He took a good shot on his right yesterday to sting the Hull 'keeper, but Podo's left foot is something that should be patented and preserved after he retires. With the final score of 3-0 against our fellow FA Cup finalists, Hull City Tigers, you have to feel like we got more than just three points for Easter. Hull may have tested us during the first 20 minutes or so, but after Ramsey's goal we took full control of the game and it felt, to me, like a phycological win over them too. Meeting them at Wembley on May 17th, and being able to boast a goal difference of 5-0 in our two meetings will surely give our players a confidence boost. The word complacency has been thrown around quite a bit, and without being complacent myself, I feel like if Wenger can't get his very, very highly paid players to be focused for an FA Cup Final after almost 9 years without a trophy, then he's most likely been kidnapped by aliens and been replaced with David Moyes. Same goes for the players - if they need a motivational speech or someone to remind them of the occasion on May 17th, then they're on the wrong team. A solid week before our next game when we welcome the struggling Newcastle to The Emirates. It's been said that we need to win all our remaining games to secure 4th place, and after Everton easily disposed of the second best team in Manchester, that goal is even more clear. Perhaps a topic for a different blog, but I'm not sure how I feel about Liverpool getting their greasy fingers on the Premiership title. Sure, Gerrard might deserve it for all the bar brawls he's been in and all the easy penalties he's had handed to him, but doesn't it feel like Liverpool have done in three years with Roger's what Arsenal have been trying to do for the last decade? Meh.... At least they still have to play in Jersey Shore Liverpool.